When Donald Trump claimed that America’s affordability crisis is a “hoax,” he revealed how profoundly disconnected he is from the workers who make our cities run. New Yorkers don’t need a lecture about hoaxes — they need a paycheck they can live on.

And if we are serious about making this city livable again, we must start where the harm is greatest: by eliminating all subminimum wages.

For too long, millions of workers nationwide — and hundreds of thousands here in New York — have been legally paid less than the minimum wage simply because of who they are or what job they do. Tipped restaurant workers, disabled workers, incarcerated workers, and young workers are still paid less. The legacy of subminimum pay is rooted in exclusion, discrimination, and exploitation.

Other states have already acted. Seven have eliminated the subminimum wage for tipped workers and now have stronger restaurant growth, less wage theft and higher tipping averages. Eighteen states have also ended subminimum wages for disabled workers, and California now allows counties to pay incarcerated workers a real wage.

New York — one of the most expensive and unequal cities in the country — should be........

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